Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Terraria

I married a wonderful man. He gave me the most perfect birthday gift this year: plants and dirt. It's not a glamorous gift, but it is just what I needed to finally build the terrarium I've been dreaming about for almost a year. My beautiful glass house from IKEA has been waiting empty for far too long.

I used this guide on building a terrarium as the basis for assembly. Most of the ingredients are straightforward and easy to source--rocks, moss, dirt, and succulents--but husband made a special trip to the pet store for activated charcoal, which keeps the water clean. I love how beautiful all of the components look layered in a glass vessel.

Husband actually bought me enough supplies to make two terraria and I was lucky that my gallon-sized jar was no longer needed in the kitchen. Now I have two lovely terraria to add some happiness to my apartment! They are so beautiful already, but I might add a few figurines as finishing touches; I can't help thinking that a couple tiny dinosaurs would be right at home among the succulents.

3 comments:

Thank you lots for this post! Your terraria are lovely! :) I've got the Ikea greenhouse as well and have grown some herbs in it, but I'd really like to turn it into a terrarium. The only concern I have is that the metal tray might go rusty with time. How has yours fared since you first planted it? :)

The one issue I have had with the greenhouse is that the sides are not attached to the base. So when we moved house recently, I made a royal mess trying to move the terrarium - the dirt and rocks leaked out of the sides at the base. I'll probably end up replanting things because it's still a little messed up.